Maha Shivratri

Today is Maha Shivratri. The day and the night long worship of Lord Shiva is performed along with fasting this day. In India we have a big pooja at our house, and it been going on for generations now. This is the only day in the entire calendar year that I observe a fast for too. Below is the story of the Maha Shivratri:

Once upon a time King Chitrabhanu of the Ikshvaku dynasty, who ruled over the whole of Jambudvipa (India), was observing a fast with his wife, it being the day of Maha Shivaratri. The sage Ashtavakra came on a visit to the court of the king.

The lord asked the king the purpose of his observing the fast. King Chitrabhanu explained that he had a gift of remembering the incidents of his past birth, and in his previous life he had been a hunter in Varanasi and his name was Suswara. His only livelihood was to kill and sell birds and animals. The day before the new moon, while roaming through forests in search of animals, he saw a deer, but before his arrow flew he noticed the deer's family and their sadness at its impending death. So he let it live. He had still not caught anything when he was overtaken by nightfall and climbed a tree for shelter. It happened to be a Bael tree. His canteen leaked water, so he was both hungry and thirsty. These two torments kept him awake throughout the night, thinking of his poor wife and children who were starving and anxiously waiting for his return. To pass away the time he engaged himself in plucking the Bael leaves and dropping them down onto the ground.

The next day he returned home and bought some food for himself and his family. The moment he was about to break his fast a stranger came to him, begging for food. He served the food first to stranger and then had his own.

At the time of his death, he saw two messengers of Lord Shiva, sent to conduct his soul to the abode of Lord Shiva. He learnt then for the first time of the great merit he had earned by unconscious worship of Lord Shiva during the night of Shivaratri. The messengers told him that there had been a Lingam (a symbol for the worship of Shiva) at the bottom of the tree. The leaves he dropped had fallen on the Lingam, in imitation of its ritual worship. The water from his leaky canteen had washed the Lingam (also a ritual action), and he had fasted all day and all night. Thus, he unconsciously had worshipped the Lord.

As the conclusion of the tale the King said that he had lived in the abode of the Lord and enjoyed divine bliss for long ages and now he was reborn as Chitrabhanu.

Happy Dasara!!!

Today is Dassara, the 10th auspicious day after the 9 days of Navratri. The day when Ram was victorious in the battle against Ravan and killed Ravan version 10.0. Effigies of Ravan are burnt down against the back drop of Ram Leela in many places. The day is marked with different kinds of festivities starting with an early pooja. Even the cars are worshipped and garlanded. Even we did pooja of both our cars this morning before I headed out to work. This day comes I think exactly 20 days before Diwali.

The 9 days of Navratri are filled with people gathering to play the garba and the dandia raas. Originated mainly in Gujrat, this has become a very popular social event and has spread not only across India but also worldwide. I myself not being a big fan of either of those, we decided to skip the event this year, even though I heard that it was very well organized and attracted a huge crowd. I remember going to this huge Durga pooja at the Shivaji Park and gasping as to how fierce but beautiful the huge idol of Durga looked.

Getting back to Flickr, below is the link to my photo stream:
My Photos on Flickr

Happy Gudi Padwa!!!

Wish you all a very Happy Gudi Padwa!!! A prosperous and a fun filled rest of the year.

Happy Holi!!!

Today is Holi, the festival of colors, like the festival of lights it has its own importance. It is celebrated for 4-5 days and ends on Rang Panchami. The uniqueness of the occasion yet does not undermine the purpose of the victory of good over evil. It is celebrated as the day when an evil father Hiranyakashyup tried to kill his son Prahlad by asking him to sit on a pyre of Holika Devi, but on praying to Lord Vishnu, he survives and Holika herself burns in it. It is celebrated everywhere in India by lighting a pyre and praying that the fire consumes your sins and makes you a better person. Then a pooja is done and prasad is distributed among the people who attend the pooja.

For us, as kids, the next day was more fun though. It was time to get drenched, spray your friends with all the different colors and throw balloons filled with water and color at unsuspecting pedestrians. Oh, those were the good days when for a day you were not scolded for spilling/hitting something/someone intentionally. After the 4-5 hours of playing with the colors and water, everyone looked the same, face colored with shades of colors you had never seen, clothes drenched and teeth white as if we had just paid a visit to the dentist. Then there was oil paint. I really used to like the shiny painted faces that the paint created but once someone painted my younger brother's face with an oil paint and we had a pretty tough time getting it off. That was really nasty. It’s been almost 10 years since I have played Holi and would like to plan a trip to India once just for this. Let’s see... Wish you all a very Happy Holi!!!

Happy Makar Sankrant

Makar Sankrant is one of the most auspicious day for Hindus. Hence the Sun is worshipped on this day at sunrise with a chant of the Gayatri Mantra which is directed to the Sun God. On Makar Sankranti day the Sun begins its ascendancy and journey into the Northern Hemisphere, and thus it signifies an event wherein the Gods seem to remind their children that 'Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya'. May you go higher & higher - to more & more Light and never to darkness. When I was a kid I used to wonder as to how the date remains the same every year for this hindu festival unlike the others - the reason is that the hindu festivals follow the calendar based on lunar positions but this is a solar event and hence the date remains the same [January 14th]. Due to this ascendancy into the northern hemisphere, the day starts to get longer and hence the winter season is on the decline from then on. This day is celebrated back in India by flying kites and making and eating Til-Gul ladoos. Ok that reminds me I need to get some sesame seeds and jaggery on my way home. Have a happy Makar Sankrant.